Below, please find information I will take
into consideration when grading your posts.Remember, you are not posting to Facebook or a blog.If your post is one or two huge paragraphs, you will not
receive a good grade.

General
Considerations:

Primary Post

Preliminaries:Turn
on Microsoft Word’s “Proofing.”You can find a video tutorial on how to accomplish this.Just hold down the control button (ctrl) on your computer,
place your cursor on the word that appears in blue font and is
underlined, and then “left click” on the word.“Proofing.”
This will take you to a video, and text description, of how to turn
on Word’s proofing.

When you turn
on Word’s proofing, errors in grammar and punctuation will be
indicated with little squiggly green lines.Errors of spelling are underlined with little squiggly red
lines.Don’t ignore
these little squiggly lines.Most often, they indicate that you have an error in grammar,
punctuation, or spelling.If you feel you haven’t made an error, highlight the
information that has squiggly lines under it, right click, and then
look the reasoning that Word has highlighted the text.If you disagree with Word, and feel that you are correct,
then you can click: “Ignore Once.”When you do so, the little green or red squiggly lines will
disappear from under the text.

Read the DB Question Carefully:Make
sure you read the DB question carefully.Students often answer part of the question but miss other
parts.Read carefully.If the post prompt consists of two questions, make sure you
address both questions.
Think about the relationship between the two questions and try to
integrate them in your response.That is,
don’t
address the questions separately.Attempt to integrate them into them into the logical
“argument” of your post.

Length:
Write approximately
250-400 for
the original post.You
can check this by highlighting your post in Microsoft Word.The word count appears in the bottom left hand corner.

Posting:After
you finish writing your post, copy and paste it into Blackboard.You can highlight your entire text in Word by holding down
the control key (ctrl) and simultaneously pressing the letter “A” on
the keyboard.(The
letter “A” stands for “All”).

Next, you can
copy the text you have highlighted by holding down the control key
(ctrl) and pressing the letter “C.”(The letter “C” stands for “Copy”).

Then go to
Blackboard, and put your cursor in the area where it says “Message.”Then hold down the control key (ctrl) and press the letter
“V.” (I have no idea what
the letter “V” stands for).

Your text will
then be entered into Blackboard.All you have to do now is click the “Submit” button and
voila, you are done.

Spacing:
When posting to
Blackboard,
please use single spacing.When
sending your post to the professor, please double-space the
text before sending.
The professor will be providing feedback for your post, and it is
easier to read if your post is double-spaced.

Purpose:
The post is intended to encourage you to “think
deeply” about the information contained in lectures and
reading assignments.Do
not simply repeat information from lectures/readings—compare,
contrast, criticize, analyze, challenge, disagree, integrate,
synthesize

Preparation:
Review all of the materials for the particular module/week’s
assignments prior to posting your original answer.

Christian:
Where appropriate, your thread should contain an integration of
a Christian
worldview (using biblical themes were applicable),

Use Proper Citations:
Provide references and citations, where applicable, according
to APA Style Manual (6th edition).You will receive a separate handout on formatting citations
and references, entitled:“Basic Citations and Reference Examples.”

Person:
You are permitted (but not required) to write from a “first person”
perspective.That is,
you can use expressions such as, “I
believe that…”However,
make sure you back up any personal statement/claim you make.That is, provide a logical explanation and/or evidence as to
why you believe this or
that.

You can “back
up” your claim by means of logical argument—deduction or induction.You can also back up your claim with evidence—for example,
expert opinions from information contained in lectures, textbooks,
and/or journal articles, that form part of this course.

Here is an
example: “I believe that psychology and theology can be integrated.After all, both disciplines are united by the fact that they
are seeking truth, and “all truth is God’s truth.”

Remember, don’t’ just state your opinion without backing it up by
giving an explanation or rational argument regarding
why you believe this or that.

Secondary Posts

Two Replies:
Post a 100 -
200-word reply to at least two other students' original threads.
This means that you must have three posts (one thread and two
replies) in the Group Discussion Board to receive full credit.

Content:
For your replies, be aware that statements like "I like what you
said," "That's a good comment," and "I disagree with your comment"
in and of themselves do not count as a complete reply. Rather,
state why you liked or disliked the thread, add additional thoughts
or ideas, and provide alternative ideas/thoughts when you disagree.

Courtesy:
Courtesy in any disagreement is expected; thus, personal attacks or
calling an idea "stupid,” or similar derogatory remarks are not
acceptable and will reduce your grade. The specific amount of
this deduction is left to the discretion of the instructor. Again,
in your replies always include appropriate APA standard citations
and references for the assigned materials you are discussing, and an
integration of a Christian worldview, using biblical themes where
applicable.

Post Due Dates:
Your original thread must be posted by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
(ET) of the applicable modules. In
Module/Week 8, the replies are due by the end of Friday.
You must post a 200 word reply to at least two of our classmates
by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. (ET) of the assigned module/week.

Organization

Baking a Cake:Try thinking of writing as being
similar to baking a cake and following a recipe.Obviously, you will need to know the ingredients of the
cake, and the order in which the various items will be added to
the mixture.Similarly,
before you start writing, you need to know what basic points you
want to make and the order in which you are going to convey
these points.

Generate Your Ideas:Before you start writing, take time
to generate your ideas.Try writing “bullets” first, that highlight the basic
points you are going to make in your paper.
Below is a hypothetical
list of some of the ingredients I want to include in DB Forum1.(Notice that I have given my “cake” a descriptive title).

“Discussion Board Cake”

Ingredients:

·
The integration of psychology and theology is not only possible, it
is preferable.

·
Psychology is not
inherently sinful; it just focuses on a different “level” of truth.

·
Understanding how our body and mind work is crucially important in
counseling

·Many theologians apparently have very
little understanding of psychology.

Organize Your Ideas:After
generating your list of potential ingredients, start rearranging
the main points and put them in a logical sequence or order.When organizing the points you want to make, realize that
you may have to eliminate some ideas because they don’t “fit”
into your logical argument.

Make Each Important Point a Paragraph:
Each important point you want to make should be embodied in a
paragraph.Paragraphs
should have
one main
topic only.If
you start a new topic, you should start a new paragraph.

Eliminate Extraneous Ingredients:Like a recipe, your paper should
follow a logical order and come to a conclusion at the end.Don’t add extraneous “ingredients” to your “recipe.”Keep to the topic.Everything should flow to a logical conclusion.Each paragraph in your paper is analogous to an
ingredient.

Connect Paragraphs With Appropriate Transitions:
Lead the reader through your post.Keep the reader in mind as you progress through the post.Each sentence should link to the previous sentence.Each paragraph should link to the previous paragraph.Use appropriate transitions when moving from one
paragraph to another.

Please carefully read:
“Meet the
Paragraph” (This document will be emailed to you).

Limit Your Paragraphs To Four Sentences:
Students often write ponderous paragraphs that go on, and on,
and on…Remember, the
paragraph is that basic unit of thought/logic that you are using
to develop your “argument.”For heuristic purposes, I am going to impose a
four
sentence limit on paragraphs—five at the most.Stick to four, unless you are an accomplished writer and
you can develop your paragraph in a way that the reader does not
get lost or miss the point you are trying to make.

Grammar and Punctuation

Professional Academic Writing:
You are in graduate school, and the standards for acceptable
writing are much higher
than they were for your undergraduate degree.
Write your post professionally.It should reflect graduate level writing skills--proper
grammar, punctuation, and spelling are extremely important.

Proper Use of Quotation Marks:
In American English, commas and periods
ALWAYS
come
BEFORE the final/ending quotation mark—no exceptions!

Incorrect:
Dr. Campbell said, “Please don’t make this mistake”.

Correct:
Dr. Campbell said, “Please don’t make this mistake.”

Please
be careful to avoid making this error.

Antecedent/Pronoun Agreement:
The pronoun should agree with its antecedent in number and
gender.This is one of
the most common errors made by students.You will receive separate handouts on how to avoid this
type of error. Please
study the information provided. See:
Pronoun-Antecedent;
Pronoun-Antecedent; or,
Pronoun-Antecedent.
In addition, you will receive a separate handout on this topic.

Use of Commas:
Many students fail to understand the proper use of commas.Commas are used to set off clauses, phrases, or words
that come before the main clause.There are many other rules for the proper use of commas.Please carefully study the LU Writing lab PowerPoint
presentation:
http://www.liberty.edu/media/2030/Commas.ppt

In addition to
the PowerPoint presentation, please see the APA manual, pages 88-89.Please note that a comma is to be used before the word “and”
and “or”in a series of three or more items.Students often mistakenly omit the comma in this situation.

Correct:
The participants were contacted at home, at school, and at work.

Correct:
He failed to call his brother, sister, or mother.

Also, please use
a comma to separate two independent clauses joined by a conjunction
(for example, the word “and”).

Correct:
The student was posting on the internet, and no one noticed that he
was cheating.

Semicolons:
A semicolon separates two
independent clauses that are not joined by a conjunction.An independent clause is a clause that can “stand alone”
and make complete grammatical sense on its own.

For example,
this is the first independent clause; it correctly connects the
second independent clause.

The semicolon is also used after a colon, to separate items in a
series, like this:
first item in the series; second item in the series; and, the third
item in the series.

Avoid Being Erudite, Pedantic, or Magniloquent:
Write clearly and concisely.Avoid lecturing or preaching.Avoid using “big words” or fancy language.

Two Spaces After Ending Punctuation Mark:
The APA Manual recommends placing two spaces—not
one--after ending
punctuation marks to aid in reading.If you set up Word’s “Proofreading” correctly, Word will
put a squiggly green line under the ending punctuation each time
you do not put two spaces after the ending punctuation.

Avoid “Fluff” and Non
Sequiturs:
Do not try to “pad” your post with information that does not
relate to the points you are trying to make.Do not just “toss in” your ideas anywhere when you happen
to think of them.

A
non sequitur occurs when
a word, idea, or thought is “dropped in” at a point in your text
that has little or no relationship to the content, context, or
logical flow of the discourse.Here is an example:“Christians sometimes forget that they are forgiven.That’s the main reason I bought the new car.”

Content

Give Your Post a Name:
Giving your post a name, rather than just “GDB 1,” will help you
focus on the main theme of your post—which is sometimes termed,
the “thesis statement.”
The thesis statement represents the “bottom line” of the logical
argument you are developing in your post.Here is an example for Forum 1:

Some people,
such as Jay Adams, think that psychology and theology are totally
incompatible; in my opinion, nothing could be further from the
truth.That is, because
psychology and theology both seek truth, they are already united in
a common goal.
Psychology seeks to find truth by focusing on how the body and mind
work. Theology seeks truth in God’s holy word, and through prayer
and insights gained through the working of the Holy Spirit. Both
disciplines seek truth—and “all truth is God’s truth.”

(Please
note:
I have not included citations in this example.You would need to do so if you were making this post).

Title of my hypothetical DB Post:
Psychology and Theology Both Seek Truth.

Don’t
Just Regurgitate Information from Your Sources:Your fellow students and your professor are perfectly
capable of reading the information contained in the
materials/lectures that form part of this course.Please do not just “describe” the opinions of other
people or quote long passages of text.

We are looking
for evidence of the following:Integrate, synthesize, compare, contrast, analyze, critique,
take a different perspective, etc.

“When
I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child. When
I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me”(1 Corinthians 13:11).